Because of the need to reduce unit costs, the automotive industry has been reluctant to proliferate the number of body styles and configurations on their vehicle frames. Therefore, none of the major automotive companies offer reproduction of vintage styled motor cars which were popular many years ago. Thus, consumers seeking distinctive body styles similar to those of vintage classic cars, have had to modify their existing vehicles themselves.
There are several known prior art patents which concern the conversion of van-type vehicles with various attachments to the vehicle body in order to make the van more versatile for special occasions. For example, the patents to Lee, U.S. Pat. No. 3,741,605, issued on June 26, 1973; Frank, U.S. Pat. No. 3,501,194 issued Mar. 17, 1970 and Persico, U.S. Pat. No. 3,905,638 issued Sept. 16, 1975. In Lieffring, U.S. Pat. No. 3,730,582 issued on May 1, 1973, the front end portion of a 1970 Volkswagen is modified and provided with an curved hood extending outwardly and downwardly in order to substantially change the appearance of the automobile. This conversion, however, is limited to modifying the front end of the vehicle only. Thomson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,550,948 issued on Dec. 29, 1970, teaches a unitary body construction consisting of three shell portions which define the vehicle body as well as the chassis frame. This eliminates the need for metallic parts and, therefore, a corrosion resistant material covering the three shell portions eliminates rust in the resulting structure. Thompson, however, does not provide a distinctive vintage classic car reproduction appearance. Schweser, U.S. Pat. No. 3,409,323 issued Nov. 5, 1968, teaches a one piece insert body construction of a modified plastic reinforced fiberglass material. Schweser also teaches that the body may be of a one piece integral metal construction for a roadster vehicle shell body. The insert is secured to the roadster shell body along its frame with rivets or snap fasteners. The insert, as well as roadster shell body, may be reinforced by having foam of suitable weights or fiberglass or a mixture of both blown therebetween, thereby reconverting the assembled insert body and roadster shell body into a one piece unit. Schweser, however, is limited to a roadster vehicle configuration. None of the aforesaid conversion vehicle patents provide a distinctive vintage classic car reproduction.
In Phillips, U.S. Pat. No. 4,099,313 issued July 11, 1978, a conventional sedan is converted into a car with a lengthened engine compartment and a body which is correspondingly shortened immediately behind the door posts. Longitudinal sections of the frame below the car body behind the door posts are removed and welded to the frame at the engine compartment. Corresponding sections are removed from the roof, floor and drive shaft tunnel immediately behind the door posts to divide the car body into front and rear sections after which these sections are welded back together to provide the converted shortened body. This method of converting a motor car provides a restyled conventional sedan which has distinctive appearance, however, it does not provide the distinctiveness associated with a vintage styled motor car reproduction.
In summary, none of the above-identified patents provide a conversion process to transform an existing sports car into a distinctly styled vehicle having a configuration similar to a vintage motor car reproduction.